The Silent One
by Saiyaness28
Summary: As a child Marak Deerhide witnessed his parents' murder and cut out his own tongue. Why no one knows. Now the silet king needs a wife. He is smitten with the elf king's daughter, Armany but if he steals her the treaty his father protected wll be destroyed
1. The New Marak

The Silent One

The New Marak

Zanir Shinmae the Elf King was startled out of a doze by his lieutenant, Romak. "My lord, something horrible has happened!" the young, handsome blond elf huffed, breathlessly. "What is it?" Nir Shinmae asked, his mind fogged with sleep. "Marak Sharpfang and his wife have been murdered!" "Spirits!" Shinmae yelled in disbelief. Marak Sharpfang had been one of the few goblin kings that had been friendly to the elves. Sharpfang had been devoted to the upholding of the treaty and was a good man for a goblin, in Shinmae's opinion. They'd actually been friends. He couldn't for the life of him think of anyone who'd want to kill the jagged mouthed Marak, other than his half crazed human wife, Makenna, that is. Shinmae immediately thought of Sharpfang and Makenna's young son, Deerhide. He looked over his shoulder at his own son, Kear, fast asleep on his pallet on the ground beside his mother, Lanera. He and Deerhide were only a few months apart. How could a boy of five be expected to govern his people? "Let's go." Shinmae whispered and the two men slipped quietly out of the tent to meet the goblins at the Treaty Circle.

As they came into ring of trees, four black figures immerged from the forest. The elves' eyes strained in the bright morning sunlight to see them more clearly. One was carrying a small child in his arms. A child with small horns, the beginnings of antlers, sticking out of his wavy blond hair. His deer's ears drooped at the sides of his head in sadness. The small boy gripped onto his carrier with his face buried in the man's cloak. One wide black eye peeked at Shinmae curiously. "Shinmae, it's good to see you again, friend." Said the carrier. The four big goblins removed their hoods to reveal their ugly animal like deformities. The carrier was the goblin Lieutenant, Hussar, an especially disturbing looking goblin with a horse's head and hoofed feet. "I only wish it were under better circumstances." Shinmae nodded, "Did anyone see what happened?" Another goblin stepped forward, one with a bird' s beak, Bim, "Deerhide…I mean Marak Deerhide…was found hiding in a corner of the room where the bodies were found. Unfortunately…he's not saying much…nor will he ever. The poor boy cut his own tongue out. For reasons we know not." Shinmae and Romak gasped in horror. "That can't be! If he'd done that, he'd be in too much pain to be out here now! And there's no way you could've stopped the bleeding so quickly!" Shinmae shouted. "See for yourself." Replied the bird like goblin. Hesitantly, both Elf men approached the cringing boy in Hussar's arms. Taking his small face in his hand, Shinmae gently opened his mouth and peered inside. Indeed his tongue was gone, but there was no blood and Deerhide didn't appear to be in any pain whatsoever. The elf king heard Romak wretch and vomit on the ground behind him.

"How can this be?" he asked to himself, however the goblins had heard him and thought that the question was being directed at them. "We found him just like that, no blood at all except for the small amount on the dagger he used." Shinmae cocked an eyebrow, "And in what state were the bodies in?" Bim sighed and his small red eyes darted to the ground, "Ripped limb from limb. Again there was no blood. We didn't even hear any screams." Deerhide began to cry silently, tears streaked down his cheeks. Hussar brushed his hair out of his eyes and bounced him around in his arms, in an attempt to comfort him.

"What will you do now? You can't honestly believe that the child can govern you in his current condition." Deerhide wrapped his arms around Hussar's neck and Hussar smiled warmly at the tiny child, "We've had Maraks without hands yet they found ways to write. Magic can do wondrous things…impossible things. Deerhide is already showing great promise as a magician. His very first word was a spell. I have no doubt that he'll find a way to speak again. You just wait. He'll be our best Marak yet."

With that the goblins retreated back from whence that came and the elves returned to their spring camp.


	2. Armany and the Forest King

Armany and the Forest King

Young Armany listened intently to the old storyteller's tale about the Goblin King, Marak Lionclaw, who once terrorized the Elves. Whenever he caught Elf maidens in his traps he'd give them to his lieutenants to wife. Then he took his own wife and suddenly he became an entirely different person. He became a friend to the elves and they formed a treaty between their nations. The leaders of each race still met at the Treaty Circle every once in a while to negotiate or have political talks or what not. However, in recent years, they'd met very few times. The new Marak was as mysterious as the shadows. Few believed he even existed.

"Armany! You coming!" shouted Armany's brother, Kear. He and his best friend, Omak, were going on a hunt and had invited her to come along. Armany jumped to her feet, her bountiful black curls bouncing around her heart shaped face. Her dark eyes glittered with excitement. "Coming big brother!" she called back in her tinkling almost childlike voice. She was fifteen but her innocent, cheerful personality made her seem a lot younger. She picked up the skirts of her green dress and ran towards the two dark haired men. "I hope you grow tired of story time soon, Armany, or else Omak here's going to have to wait another twenty years for you to grow up." Omak and Armany looked at each other and blushed. Kear laughed until his sides ached.

Deep within the forest, Kear and Omak moved nimbly through the underbrush, their bows drawn and ready. Armany wandered a few paces behind, balancing on a log, and humming an elfin tune. "Be quiet, girl, or you'll scare off the deer." Armany stuck out her bottom lip in a pout, "Sorry Kear." She sighed and hopped off the log. She was quiet for a while, her mind going over all the stories she'd been told over her fifteen years about goblins stealing elf girls to be their wives. It was frightening how one goblin king could be an ally and then the next could be your enemy. "Kear, are all those stories about goblins true?" she asked. Her brother snorted, "Of course they are!" Armany cocked her head to the side curiously, "Really? How do you know?" Kear rolled his eyes at his naive little sister, "Because father has told me all about the histories of the goblins. I've learned that although they may seem to want peace they will always want to steal our women. Vile creatures the lot of them!" "Yea," Omak chimed in, "You know the old Marak stole my cousin, Ambermay." Armany shook her head in disbelief, " No he did not. Marak Deerhide's mother was a human not an elf." Omak turned his head and scowled at her, his electric blue eyes dulling a little, perhaps thinking of a bad memory. "Ambermay was his first wife. She died during childbirth, both she and the babe did. The next time I saw her, Sharpfang was returning her lifeless body to us."

"Look!" whispered Kear fiercely. Omak and Armany looked up to see the biggest buck they'd ever seen standing on a large rock, staring down at them. His antlers were easily four feet across. His glassy black eyes watched them warily. "What a beaut!" Omak whispered, raising his bow. Armany grabbed his arrow before he could load it into place, "No, Omak you mustn't!" Kear raised his bow, loaded it, and pulled back on the sting. "No way I'm passing this up!" Kear hissed, releasing his arrow.

The arrow cut through the air then somehow stopped in mid air inches from the deer's eyes. The deer's ears perked and the arrow clattered onto the ground. The deer beat his hoof on the stone underneath his feet three times and the ground began to quake and the trees swayed in a mighty breeze. Omak, Kear, and Armany fell onto the ground. Kear crawled over to Armany and shielded her from the wind and flying debris. Armany cried out in fear and all the kayos suddenly halted to a stop. They opened their eyes to find that the giant deer was gone. They found neither tracks nor any kind of trail leading away into the woods. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

Marak Deerhide, returned to his kingdom after a short run through the forest. He took a seat in his throne and slouched down in it, looking nothing like the king he was supposed to be. A dwarf woman brought him his goblet and he took a gook swig of ale. It helped to calm his fried nerves after that run in with the elvin hunters and the girl. The hunters he was not worried about. He'd dealt with many since he learned the transformation spell, it was the girl that had him on edge. He'd never seen a more beautiful creature in his entire life and what's more, she'd stopped one of the hunters from firing his bow at him. The tightness in his chest and rambling thoughts that plagued him now unnerved him. He'd never felt this way before. _Get out of my head, Little Elf!_, Deerhide screamed in his head as her face flashed across his memory.

"Marak, there you are! I've been looking all over for you. Where have you been?" asked Hussar as he entered the throne room. _Running in the woods._ Deerhide spoke directly to Husar's mind. In the beginning of his reign, he had to write down everything that he wanted to say. This wasn't at all practical and was extremely annoying. By the age of seven, two years after first becoming Marak, he learned he could speak to people through their thoughts, something like mind reading only backwards. "Ah, I see. You've been doing a lot of that lately. I wonder what it is your running from." Hussar mused, his horse's lips twisted into a smirk. Deerhide's large eyes narrowed, _I'm not running from anything! I fear nothing!_ Hussar chuckled, crossing his arms, "Then why do you take off like that whenever someone mentions marriage?" Deerhide glared at him then downed the rest of his ale in one gulp. _It annoys me that my lessors are pestering me over something that is none of their concern. I will take a wife when I am good and ready. _Hussar shook his big head, his black mane falling over his left shoulder, "It is our concern. It can take years for an heir to be born so it's best that you take a wife as soon as possible. You know that." Deerhide rolled his eyes. He looked to the Dwarf woman who stood next to him, _More ale._ He ordered. The dwarf quickly refilled his goblet.

Hussar sighed, "I wish you wouldn't drink so much. It's not very becoming of a Marak to be drunk all the time." Deerhide swallowed a mouthful of the rich liquid, _I do my job, do I not? Leave me alone Hussar. _Hussar frowned, "I won't leave until you promise me that you'll at least look for a girl." Deerhide smiled slightly, only one corner of his lips showing any sign of amusement, _Not necessary. I may have already found one._ Hussar's arms dropped to his sides and his eyes doubled in size, his body overtaken with shock, "You did? Who? Where?" Deerhide set down his goblet and looked right into Hussar's face, his eyes wide with wonder, _I don't know her name. All that I know is that she's an elf and that she has a deep respect for nature. I saw her with some hunters today as I ran in the woods. She stopped one of them from shooting at me. _Hussar tilted his head, "Is that all? Is that all you know?" Deerhide thought back to the girl's look of awe as she gazed upon him in his deer form. _She has black eyes. She has the eyes of royalty._

Armany went on and on about the Deer. "There's no way he was a normal deer! He must have been a spirit! Yes, the Spirit of the Forest! That's what he is! Maybe, even, the Forest King! Oh he was magnificent!" Kear rolled over on his pallet and tried to muffle her out by burying his head in a balled up cloak. "Be quiet, Armany! I'm trying to sleep!" Armany and Kear's father Shinmae entered the tent, and smiled lovingly at his youngest child. "Daddy!" she giggled, skipping to him. She wrapped her arms around him and they hugged each other tightly. "So what's this I hear about forest spirits?" he asked her with a chuckle. "Oh, you should have seen him! He was the biggest deer I've ever seen! Bigger than two men put together! Kear tried to shoot him with his bow, but the arrow dropped before it could strike him! It must have made him mad because the wind began to blow savagely and the earth shook beneath our feet. By the time we came to our senses, he was gone! Vanished! He must have been a spirit! Right?" She said, illustrating her story by jumping up and down and throwing her arms every which way. " Be quiet!" Kear growled from beneath his cloak. Shinmae laughed. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he said into his daughter's ear, "Surely that must be what he was. Shows Kear right, for trying to kill such a wonderful creature. That old deer taught him a very powerful lesson, didn't he?" Armany nodded with a smile, "That's why Kear's so grumpy now. He's never been beaten by his prey before." "I can still hear you!" Kear bellowed, angrily. Armany and Shinmae both laughed.


End file.
